Hot tubs and other spa and/or bathing units employing a tub or the like, herein referred to collectively as hot tubs, are usually equipped with a cover or the like when located outdoors, e.g., on a deck or in another environment wherein the cover is used to protect the hot tub and/or to prevent others from inadvertently falling into the hot tub or otherwise being injured by the uncovered tub. Such covers are typically designed to be manually manipulated into place by the user and manually removed, and this manipulation of the cover can be awkward and cumbersome. Moreover, providing suitable storage of the cover can also present a problem.
Automatic or semi-automatic systems have also been developed for providing covering and uncovering movements of covers, flooring and the like, for spas and swimming pools. Some examples of patented systems and devices of this type are discussed below.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,718,566, and Published Application No. 20040055081, both to Wilson, disclose a vertically adjustable spa cover assembly including a cover movable above a spa between a raised position and a lowered position, the raised position being vertically above the lowered position. Lifts are used to raise and lower the cover. The cover assembly may also include a screen that surrounds the area between the cover and the spa. The lifts are threaded sections including rods and pipes which engage one another and move up and down as one or more of these threaded sections are rotated by a power source such as a motor or hand crank. The power source may engage the threaded sections through gears or sprockets, or less directly via a system of sprockets and a chain which drives the sprockets and the threaded sections in turn. Alternatively, the lifts may be telescoping members pneumatically or hydraulically powered. The cover assembly may be built into a spa unit or added as a retrofit component.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,542 to Wood et al. discloses a vertically adjustable pool platform, for use in a swimming pool, a means to vertically raise and lower the platform, and a means connecting the platform to the means to vertically raise and lower the platform. The pool platform is buoyant so as to normally float on the surface of the water, and is constantly urged to float to the surface of the water, when submerged under water at a predetermined level. The platform permits vertical passage of water therethrough.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,527 to Perez et al. discloses a removable support apparatus for supporting a swimming pool cover employing adjustable frame assemblies capable of spanning between opposite edges at opposite sides of the pool. Each frame assembly includes a pair of separate frame members placed in side-by-side relation to one another so that, together, they define the overall length of the frame assembly. The frame members are displaceable longitudinally relative to one another to adjust the overall length of the frame assembly so as to match the distance between the opposite edges of the pool so that the frame assembly can fit across the pool between its opposite edges Each frame assembly also includes an end support member attached to the outer end of each frame member and supporting the frame member from one of the opposite edges of the pool. The frame assembly further includes adjustable attaching members releasably attaching the frame members to one another in the longitudinally-displaced side-by-side relation such that the frame assembly will span between the opposite sides of the pool. The removable support apparatus also includes at least one adjustable column support member removably installed in upright standing relation on the bottom of the pool and releasably supporting a selected frame assembly, and a framework overlying and supported by the frame assemblies so as to span across the length and width of the swimming pool for, in turn, supporting a pool cover.
JP07166727A2 discloses a normally/reversely rotatable motor installed in a control room, and a rotary shaft. One end of the shaft is supported by a first bearing and the other end is supported by a sealed bearing equipped in a bulkhead part between the control room and a pool. The motor and the rotary shaft are connected to each other, and circumferential surfaces of drums coaxially mounted on the rotary shaft are connected by means of wire ropes to the underneath of a floor board so as to provide buoyancy.
JP02008464 discloses a vertically movable floor support for a swimming pool which includes a vertically movable floor, screw jacks set below the floor, and a drive source for expanding or contracting the jacks. The jacks are set at a given interval in the space between the floor and a foundation slab formed below the pool bottom. When a switch for indicating extension or contraction is activated, bevel gears are turned synchronously by drive motors, and a piston rod is raised to adjust the floor to a given height. The motors are stopped by action of sensor.